Yoga - A Brief Intro

Yoga is a Sanskrit (supposed to be the toughest and oldest language) word, meaning 'Yoke', or 'Unity'. It is the unity of the body, mind and spirit; which leads to the unification of the self with the cosmos. This is the goal of Yoga. It is a physical, mental and spiritual discipline developed in India during the Indus Valley Civilisation, in 3rd millennium BCE, as many figures of the time depict Yogic Meditative Posture - Padmasana.

Dealing with Yoga, one can't forget to pay tribute to the eminent Maharshi Patanjali  (lived during the 2nd century BCE) who has written one of the best known work exclusively on Yoga, 'Yoga Sutras'. Though he is considered the founder of Yoga by many people, Yoga has been in existence since the time of Vedas (3000 BCE), but in a different form or system. [FYI, Maharshi = sage]

Patanjali, in his book, has mentioned about 6 systems of Yoga viz. Raja Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Kriya Yoga and Karma Yoga. It is important to note that there are numerous different systems of Yoga besides these six, of which Tantra Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Dhyana Yoga, etc. can never be overlooked. Also, it is believed that Yoga has its major roots also in Tantra, which is a major school of Yoga and now a system of Yoga. In the next article I'll write about the major systems of Yoga and put hyperlink here.

The mystical and philosophical structure of Yoga is practised and mentioned in the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Mahabharata (in Bhagawat Gita, to be precise), as also in Tantric philosophies. All these must have spoken about different systems of Yoga, and it must be easy for us to presume that the Vedas (Major Scripture of Hinduism) must have spoken about Bhakti Yoga and Karma Yoga without mentioning the names, because we know Hinduism is a religion (or a way of life) and Bhakti = devotion. 

The above 'guesswork' that Vedas talked of Bhakti Yoga etc., is only my assumption based on my understanding, and I have never read or heard anything about it. I'll inform once I learn the 4 Vedas, which are basically filled with moral ideas, instructions and true knowledge about God.

We needn't learn all systems of Yoga to become a Yogi (one who mastered Yoga). Further, some may not even work for you. For instance, some people find happiness only in devotion to God, and once they do, they are Bhakti Yogis. So it is very important to understand the basics about at least the major systems of Yoga. 

There are 8 limbs of Yoga namely, Yama, Niyama, Asanas, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi. I'll write briefly about these 8 limbs also in one of the coming articles and put hyperlink here.